help! my tank is crashing!

[supafreak]

130g reef tank
1 tang,
1 clown
2 yellow tail blue damsels
one three stripe damsel
one sargent major damsel
crabs, snails
an anenemie
a few corals
(two deceased gobies, and a royal gramma, over the weekend)


Today when i got up my tang was not acting right. Usually he would be swimming back and forth across the entire tank, and today he is hiding out for the most part. He is eating well.

Over the weekend i lost 3 of my new fish, two sleeper gobies, and a royal gramma.

My conditions are all great. ammonia 0, nitrite 0 and nitrate between 5 and 10. My iron is non detectable, and my phosphorate is also at 0.

my anenemie is looking not so great, (he was huge last week, and he is sorta small with most of his tentacles pulled inside)

my corals are also looking not so great (same thing as the anenemie)

I have a terrible case of that slimy rust colored alge COVERING every spot that the light hits in my tank, and it is starting to cover my corals

the tank is about 3 months old, and the current fish came from an my 33g tank, as well as some of the live rock, and much of the crushed coral, and filter medium.

we just put in the second mh light, now we have one on both ends (is this too much light?) As well we have some marine glow florescent lights.

Can any one offer some advice as to what might be going on? Can the alge be hurting the fish? I took a turkey baster and blew it away from the corals, and that worked for the time being.

[supafreak]

can noone help? please! My fish need you

[Fluff]

Is it possible chemicals were sprayed anywhere near the tank? I really don't know why your fish are dying but I would start with lots of water changes. The rust colored algae sounds like cyano and although it's not good on your corals (covering them), it shouldn't have any effect on your fish. I think the cyano is just an after effect of something else going on.

Originally Posted by supafreak

I have a terrible case of that slimy rust colored alge COVERING every spot that the light hits in my tank, and it is starting to cover my corals

Sounds like you might be getting a dinoflagellate bloom. What is the temp, alk, pH and the GPH (not including the skimmer)? Is the tank top covered?

Cheers
Steve

[supafreak]

temp is ;76, but might raise up to 78 when the mh lights are on for awhile. Ph is a little high, i think 9. Not sure what the alk is , and we are running two aqua clear 300's (130g tank) plus we have a few power heads, but they are just for moving water. the top is not covered.

I would recheck the pH, 9 sounds quite high and in all honesty a false reading. Be sure you are checking at home right after removing the sample from the tank. It cannot be accurately tested by the LFS. What time of day was the pH tested?
You can however get the LFS to test the alkalinity which I would suggest.

The flow could be a bit of a concern. The Aquaclears are rated at 300 GPH each but thats when runnning without media in them. I hope you have quite a few extra powerheads in the tank. Over and above the powerfilters, you'll need about 4+ Maji Jet 1200's or equivalent.

Can you post a clear close up shot of the algae? How old is the tank?

Cheers
Steve

[jaiden]

IF your tank gets to 78 with the lights on, you should set your heater to 78. this will keep a constant temp 24h/day. probably won't fix your problem, but certainly would be an improvement.

[tripper]

Actually, that logic isn't completely accurate. If you turn your heater up to 78, your lights will heat it even more, probably close to 80. It might help run a fan over the surface to help keep the temp down.